Mars rover travels 6.5 metres in ‘flawless’ first drive

Perseverance rover can travel 200 metres a day, but scientists need to conduct tests and safety checks before it ventures further.

NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has taken its first, short drive on the surface of the red planet, two weeks after the robot science lab’s picture-perfect touchdown on the floor of an enormous crater, mission managers said on Friday. The Perseverance rover first ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after landing on the Red Planet to seek signs of past life. Taking directions from mission managers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles, the rover rolled four metres (13.1 feet) forward, turned about 150 degrees to its left and then drove backwards another 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) for a total of 6.5 metres (21.3 feet) during its half-hour test within Jezero Crater, site of an ancient, long-vanished lake bed and river delta on Mars.